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SKS
The SKS is a Soviet semi-automatic rifle chambered for the 7.62x39mm round, designed in 1943 by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov. Its complete designation, SKS-45, is an acronym for Samozaryadnyj Karabin Sistemy Simonova, 1945. In the early 1950s, the Soviets took the SKS out of frontline service and replaced it with the AK-47; however, the SKS remained in second-line service for decades. It is still used as a ceremonial arm today. The SKS was widely exported, and was also produced by some former Eastern Bloc states as well as China, where it was designated the''' "Type 56", East Germany as the '''Karabiner S and in North Korea as the Type 63. The SKS is currently popular on the civilian surplus market in many countries, including the United States. it was one of the first weapons chambered for the 7.62x39mm M43 round, which was also used later in the AK-47. __FORCETOC__ Design The SKS has a conventional carbine layout, with a wooden stock and no pistol grip. The SKS is a gas-operated weapon that has a spring-loaded operating rod and a gas piston rod that work the action via gas pressure pushing against them. Also, it has a "tilting bolt" action locking system. The SKS is shorter and less powerful than the semi-automatic rifles that preceded it, such as the Soviet SVT-40. However, the SKS has a 4-in longer barrel than AK-series rifles, which replaced it; as a result, it has higher muzzle velocity. Contrary to popular belief, the SKS is NOT an assault rifle, because the basic design lacks both a selective fire capability and a detachable magazine. The SKS's ten round box magazine is fed from a stripper clip and rounds stored in the magazine can be removed by depressing a magazine catch located forward of the trigger guard (thus opening the "floor" of the magazine and allowing the rounds to fall out). In typical military use the stripper clips are disposable. If necessary they can be reloaded multiple times and reused. While early Soviet models had spring-loaded firing pins, most variants of the SKS have a free floating firing pin within the bolt. Because of this design, care must be taken during cleaning (especially after long storage) to ensure that the firing pin does not stick in the forward position within the bolt. SKS firing pins that are stick in the forward position have been known to cause accidental "slamfires" (uncontrolled automatic fire that empties the magazine, starting when the bolt is released). This behavior is less likely with the hard primer military-spec ammo for which the SKS was designed, but as with any rifle, users should properly maintain their firearms. For collectors, slamfires are more likely when the bolt still has remnants of cosmoline embedded in it. The firing pin is triangular in cross-section, and slamfires can also result if the firing pin is inserted upside down. In most variants (pre-1970 Yugoslav models being the most notable exceptions), the barrel is chrome-lined for increased wear and heat tolerance from sustained fire and to resist corrosion from chlorate-primed corrosive ammunition, as well as to facilitate cleaning. Chrome bore lining is common in military rifles. Although it can diminish accuracy, this is not a real limit on practical accuracy in a weapon of this type. The front sight is a hooded post. The rear sight is an open notch type which is adjustable for elevation from 100 meters to 1000 meters. There is also an all-purpose "battle" setting on the sight ladder, set for 300 meters. The Yugoslav M59/66 has folddown luminous sights for use when firing under poor light conditions. All military SKSs have a bayonet attached to the underside of the barrel, which is extended and retracted via a spring-loaded hinge. Both blade and spike bayonets were produced. Some versiions, such as the Yugoslavian-made M59/66 variant, are also equipped with a grenade launching attachment. The SKS is easily field stripped and reassembled with only a punch. The rifle has a cleaning kit stored in a trapdoor in the buttstock, with a cleaning rod running under the barrel, in the same style as the AK-47. In common with some other Soviet-era designs, it trades some accuracy for ruggedness, reliabilty, ease of maintenance, ease of use, and low manufacturing cost. History During WWII, many countries realized that existing rifles, such as the Mosin Nagant, were too long and heavy and fired powerful cartridges that were effective in medium machineguns with a range in excess of 2000 meters, creating excessive recoil. These cartridges, such as the 7.92x57mm Mauser, .303 British, .30-06 Springfield, and 7.62x54mmR were effective in rifles to ranges up to 1000 meters; however, it was noted that most firefights took plce at maximum ranges of between 100 and 300 meters. Only a highly-trained specialisst, such as a sniper, could employ the full-power cartridge to its true potential. Both the Soviet Union and Germany realized this and designed new weapons for smaller, intermediate-power cartridges. The U.S. fielded an intermediate cartridge in the .30 US, now known as the .30 Carbine, and M1 Carbines were fielded in lare numbers but not as a replacement for the .30-06 round in general use. The German approach was the production of a series of intermediate cartridges and rifles in the interwar period, eventually developing the Maschinenkarabiner, or machine-carbine, which later evolved into the Sturmgewehr 44, chambered in the 7.92x33mm Kurz intermediate cartridge. The Soviet Union qualified a new intermediate round in 1943, at the same time it began to field the M44 Mosin Nagant carbine as a general issue small arm. However, the M44, which has a side-folding bayonet and shorter overall length, still fired the full-powered round of its predecessors. A small number of SKS rifles were tested on the front line in early 1945 against Germans in WWII. Design-wise, the SKS relies on the AVS-36 to a point that some consider it a shortened AVS-36, stripped of select-fire capability and re-chambered for the 7.62x39mm round. It als owes a debt to the SVT-40 and M44 that it replaced, incorporating both the semi-automatic firepower of the SVT (albeit in a more manageable cartridge) and the carbine size and integral bayonet of the bolt action M44. In 1949, the SKS was officially adopted into the Soviet Army, manufactured at the Tula Arms Plant from 1949 until 1955 and the Izhevsek Mechanical Plant in 1953 and 1954. Although the quality of Soviet carbine manufactured at these state-run arsenals were quite high, its design was already obsolete compared to the Kalashnikov which was select-fire, lighter, had three times the magazine capacity, and had the potential te be less labor-intensive to manufacture. Gradually over the next few years, AK-47 production increased until the extant SKS carbines in service were relegated primarily to non-infantry and second line troops. They remained in service in this in this fashion even as late as the 1980s, and possibly the early 1990s. To this day, the SKS carbine is used by some ceremonial Russian honor guards, much the same way the M1 Garand is within the United States; it is far less ubiquitous than the AK-47 but both original Soviet SKS rifles and copies can still be found today in civilian hands as well as in the hands of third-world militias and insurgent groups. The SKS was to be a gap-filling firearm manufactured using the proven operating mechanism design of the PTRS-41 and using proven milled forging manufacturing techniques. This was to provide a fall-back for the radically new and experimental design of the AK-47, in the event that the AK proved to be a failure. In fact, the original stamped receiver AK-47 had to be quickly redesigned to use a milled receiver which delayed production, and extended the SKS carbine's service life. Service The SKS fell out of service amongst its client nations during the 1960s and 1970s, although Vietnam still has military police units armed with the SKS. Many surplus SKS rifles were disposed of in the 1990s, and photographs and stories exist of SKS rifles used by guerilla fighters in Bosnia, Somalia and throughout Africa and Asia during the 1990s and well into the 21st century. Several African, Asian, and Middle Eastern armies still use the SKS. During the Cold War, the Soviet Union shared the design and manufacturing details with its allies, and as a result, many variants of the SKS exist. Some variants use a 30-round AK-47 style magazine (Chinese Type 63), gas port controls, flip up night sights, and prominent, muzzle mounted grenade launchers (Yugoslav M59/66, possibly North Korean Type 63). In total, SKS rifles were manufactured by the Soviet Union, China, Yugoslavia, North Korea, Albania, North Korea, Vietnam, and East Germany with limited pilot production in Romania and Poland. Physically, all are very similar, although the NATO-specification 22mm grenade launcher of the Yugoslavian version, and the more encompassing stock of the Albanian version are visually distinctive. Early versions of Chinese Type 56s used a vertically aligned blade, whereas the majority of Chinese carbines made after 1971 used a spike bayonet. Many smaller parts, most noteably the sights and charging handles, were unique to different mational production runs. A small quantity of SKS carbines manufactured in 1955-56 were produced in China with Russian parts, presumably as part of a technology sharing arrangement. Many Yugoslav M59/66 series rifles were exported to Uruguay and Mozambique; the Mozambique versions having teakwood stocks, the wood supplied by that nation. The vast majority of Yugoslav M59 and M59/66s have elm, walnut, and beech stocks. Russian SKS's had stocks of Arctic Birch (or "Russian birch"), and the Chinese were of Catalpa wood ("Chu wood"). SKS carbines have also made appearances in recent conflicts in Africa, Afghanistan and Iraq. Today, the SKS is in service with Cambodia, Laos, China, North Korea, and Vietnam, as well as many other countries in Africa. Variants After WWII, the SKS design was licensed or sold to a number of the Soviet Union's allies. Most of these nations produced nearly identical variants, with the most common modifications being differing styles of bayonets and the 22 mm rifle grenade launcher commonly seen on Yugoslavian models. Differences from the "baseline" late Russian Tula Armory/Izhevsk Armory SKS: *'Soviet (1949-1956)': Early spike-style bayonet instead of blade-style. Squared-off gas block instead of the rounded one more commonly seen. Spring-return firing pin on early models. The gas block had three changes: squared off is the 90-degree angle. Second gas block production type: cut at 45 degree angle. Third gas block productin type: rounded inward or Cut Curved inward. *'Soviet Honor Guard': All-chrome metal parts, with a lighter colored wood stock. * Chinese Type 56 (1956-): Numerous minor tweaks, including lack of milling on the bolt carrier, partially or fully stamped (as opposed to milled) receivers, and differing types of thumb rest on the take down lever. The chinese continually revised the SKS manufacturing process, so variation can be seen even between two examples from the same factory. All of the Type 56 carbine rifles have been removed from military service, except a few being used for ceremonial purposes and by local Chinese Militias. Type 56 carbines with serial numbers below 9,000,000 have the Russian-style blade type folding bayonet, while those above have a "spike" type folding bayonet. * Chinese Honor Guard: Mostly, but not all, chromed metal parts. Does not generally have the lighter-colored stock as the Soviet Honor Guard variant. *'Romanian M56': Typically nearly identical to the late Soviet model. *'Polish SKS': Refurbished Soviet rifles. Polish laminated stocks lack storage area for cleaning kits. *'Yugoslavian PAP M59': Barrel is not chrome lined. PAP means "Polu-automatska puska" (Semi-automatic rifle) and the rifle was nicknamed "Papovka". Otherwise this rifle is nearly identical to the Soviet version. *'Albanian "July 10 Rifle"': Longer stock and handguard on the gas tube, and AK style charging handle. The magazine is slightly different in the shape visible from the outside. The stock has two compartments with two corresponding holes in the buttplate for cleaning implements instead of the single cleaning kit pocket. Like the Chinese Type 56 carbine, the Albanian version also features a spike bayonet fixed beneath the muzzle. *'East German Karabiner-S': Extremely rare. Slot cut into back for pull-through sling, similar to the slot in a Karabiner 98k. No storage area in back of stock or storage for cleaning rod under barrel. *'North Korean Type 63': Extremely rare. At least three seperate models were made. One standard model with blade bayonet, and a second with a gas-shutoff and a grenade launcher, similar to the M59/66. The North Korean grenade launcher was detachable from the muzzle and the gas shutoff was different fromt the Yugoslavian model, however. *'Vietnamese Type 1': Extremely rare. Nearly identical to both Soviet and Sino-Soviet SKS. These are identified by a small star on the receiver with a 1 in the center. The barrel is chromed, as are many of the internal parts. It is unknown currently whether there are spiked bayonets or only bladed. The stock work is identical to more common SKS variants such as the Soviet and Chinese. The interchangeability of many parts has resulted in carbines on the market that are a mixture of different parts of varying quality, sometimes incluing parts from different countries, often times with non-standard after-market parts. Such rifles are usually referred to as "parts guns" and are generally considered the lowest-quality carbines encountered. 220px-Norinco_SKS.jpg|Chinese Norinco SKS with bayonet removed. 220px-Nva-ehrenwache.jpg|East German Honor Guard in front of the Neue Wache in Berlin on Unter den Linden with SKS carbines. 220px-PLAN_sailors.jpg|PLAN sailors at Qingdao, North Sea Fleet HQ, parading with Chinese Type 56 carbines. 220px-SKS_modified.jpg|A sporterized SKS carbine fitted with an aftermarked composite stock and scope rail. 220px-Soldiers_of_Vietnam_People's_Army.jpg|Soldiers of Vietnam's People's Army parading with SKS carbines. Category:Soviet Military Category:Weapons